Chapter 6

ETHAN

Her back was to us, so she had not sensed us yet.

Her long blonde was up in a messy bun on the top of her head. Surprisingly, all of her hair fit. No idea how though. Perhaps she was a magician. She looked completely at ease. If I had been a rogue, she would be dead by now. That irritated me because she apparently did not take my warning seriously earlier.

Did she really have no sense of self-preservation inside her?

Blaze quietly stalked up to Emma, who still had not moved. He and went to pounce, but she dodged out of the way seconds before Blaze could land.

Well then, she had actually been paying attention and noticed us approach. She laid her trap for us. Nice.

She stood up tall, as if unaffected with seeing a strange wolf at all. It was either a power play or the she-wolf had completely lost her damn mind. Her head tilted to the side, studying Blaze. The way her eyes moved lazily over his form without showing an ounce of concern was another point in the interesting column.

Blaze was a large brown wolf. Being a Beta wolf, he was larger than your average shifter wolf. Plus, the bigger the shifter was then the bigger the wolf was. The squad were all beasts, making our wolves super beasts as well.

Blaze took three steps towards her, but she stood her ground, unaffected by his presence. Damn, it made me wonder what she would be like on a battlefield. I bet she would drive her enemies crazy with how acted around strange wolves.

“What does a wolf like you get out of pouncing on a defenseless she-wolf?” she asked with wide eyes.

Ah, she was good. The innocent act was almost believable. She was not worried at all even though she had no idea who the new wolf was. Blaze could have had malicious intentions for all she knew.

I encouraged Blaze to mess around with her because I was very curious to see what she would do.

He barreled straight for her. Right before he collided with her, she dodged out of the way, and rolled backwards. She landed three feet from his tail with complete ease. He swished his tail at her hard to try to knock her off-balance, but she just grabbed onto like it was a rope.

Like a fucking rope.

Blaze pulled his tail from her grasp and turned around on her quickly. His hackles were raised and bared his teeth at her. He was not pissed off, but she did not know that. It would make anyone whimper from an oncoming attack. However, she simply raised an eyebrow in response.

What the living fuck.

“We can keep doing this, or we can talk like the rational beings that we are. Mr. Wolfy, you don’t scare me. So, you choose. Let me talk to your human, or you can be on your way since you interrupted my run,” she said diplomatically.

Emma stood there with her arms crossed, waiting for him to choose. Well, that was not what I was expecting at all. She really was not intimidated by me or him. I had no idea why that was. At least he was sulking now just as much as I was then.

Blaze turned around and went back to where the bag dropped. The air around me shimmered while I shifted back and pulled on my shorts.

“You are either the bravest or stupidest person I have ever met, Emma. Why are you out here in human form? What if rogues came at you, or what if my wolf had been an enemy?”

I stood in front of her. She was actually surprised that it was me that she came across. It proved she had not realized who I was. So, was this a normal response from her then? The fuck. Now I was damn sure curious about a battlefield scenario.

“Wolf form doesn’t mean more capable, Ethan. I’m far more capable in this form. I handled myself quite alright right you. If rogues or enemy wolves came at me, I would take care of them,” she stated.

I took a moment to look her over. She wore a silver t-shirt and some running pants. It was hard to think someone so tiny could take down a rogue. Well, perhaps she was more capable than I was thinking. Appearances could be deceiving.

One impressive fact was that she did not show an ounce of fear when facing Blaze. Not a single fucking ounce.

“Why weren’t you afraid of my wolf?” I asked her, my curiosity with this she-wolf steadily increasing.

Blaze was still sulking a little because he had not been able to scare her. That fact alone though increased my curiosity regarding her. There was definitely more to her than met the eye.

“Life is short, and fear takes up too much energy. I knew I could handle myself if he were to attack. Keeping a level head unsettles your enemies more than showing fear. Fear can be dangerous if it’s consuming.” 

Well, damn. She had a great point.

“Wise words. We teach similar philosophies when training our pack. Why are you out here?” I asked after a moment.

She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. “This is my usual running zone. Why are you here?” she countered.

Was she actually serious? Yeah, her unwavering stare said she was. I was beginning to think that she very well might have Xander’s stubbornness beat. Ha, that would be hilarious to witness. She would put him in his place right quick.

“We just confirmed that this is the hotbed for rogues, and you came out anyways?” I asked exasperatedly.

I pinched the bridge of my nose to calm myself down. I was not sure why her complete lack of self-preservation bothered me, but it did. I did not want to see her get hurt. I truly did not understand how she was not worried. She was acting as if it was just a walk in the park. Well, that park was potentially filled with rage-engorged killers who had not a lick of sense in their heads except to attack.

Her eyes narrowed at me, and she looked positively irritated at me. She stared me down without flinching when I stared right back at her.

“I’m not some little she-wolf that faints at the sight of blood or needs a knight-in-shining-armor to protect her. I’m more than capable of protecting myself. I came out here for two reasons. Reason number one is that I come out here every evening, so it would look suspicious if I didn’t. Reason number two is that I wanted a chance to take a look around to see if I noticed anything out of the ordinary. If anyone could notice something, it’s probably the person who has been here every evening for the past eight years,” she explained, folding her arms over her chest.

I held my hands up in surrender. Her words packed a punch for such a small fry. The fuck was she made from?

Until Emma came along, I had yet to meet a she-wolf that could make me actually back down when I was frustrated. Typically, they all tucked tail and ran. Not her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by what I said. I’m sure that you could definitely handle yourself. I was just surprised to see you is all. I’m glad that I was the volunteer to come out to this area. I’m not sure if my other comrades would be as understanding. We have a less diplomatic way of questioning than yours.” I smirked at her.

I could only imagine what Xander would have done. I shivered with the thought. This was neutral territory but still. If he had reason to think that she had anything to do with all of this rogue business, she would probably be in our cells right about now. Then how would I explain her innocence? Although, it was possible that she would be fucking vicious enough to get him to release her.

She chuckled and relaxed, unfolding her arms. My apology was enough to dissuade her irritation. I was glad to see that she was not one of those people to hold onto their anger and irritations.

“Well, I’m glad it was you then.”

I looked around the area and realized she was right. Only someone used to this area would be able to pick something out. Everything seemed so ordinary.

The grass in the field was beginning to brown as the changing of the season progressed. Soon, the air would become chilled. Autumn was my favorite time of year because I liked the cooler weather and Blaze loved running through the forest with the dying leaves crunching under his paws. Again, I was thankful for the nature spread throughout our territory. This would suck.

There was a group of trees off to the left, a few bushes sprinkled around the clearing, and not much else. It was nearing sunset, which casted a nice glow over the clearing. There was still enough sunlight to see by, so we should be able to get a good sweep of things.

I turned back to Emma and saw her looking around too. Her head tilted from side to side, and her fingers tapped against her thigh as she analyzed everything. She was tapping a rhythm just like Xander did when he needed focus and control.

“So, notice anything odd?”

She kept looking around the clearing, scrutinizing every inch of it. Her eyes flitted from piece to piece, ensuring that she took it all in.

She started walking around, making sure to pay close attention to the ground. She had been walking for a couple of minutes when her focus zoned in on a heap of twigs and leaves. She crouched down and prodded it before waving me over.

“Do you have any gloves by chance?” she asked, looking up at me hopefully.

Thankfully, I did. She told me that we needed them, so I made sure to bring a pair with me. I handed them over to her.

‘Good job for thinking ahead, Ethan,’ I praised myself. Blaze just snorted at my self-praise. He was not praising me, so I had to take it where I could get it even if it meant giving it to myself.

“Hey, my phone is in my back pocket. Grab it and turn the flashlight on please,” she said absentmindedly.

I swallowed hard and chased away the slightly naughty thoughts in my mind. As gently as possible, I grabbed the phone out of her pocket. I made sure to remain a gentleman, so I was proud of myself.

I went to hand it to her, but the wind shifted, perfuming the scent of blood. I sniffed, and my eyes zoned in on Emma’s hip. I reached out and lifted the edge of her shirt up. There was a large bandage taped on that had blood soaking through it.

“What happened,” I asked, wondering what the hell caused it and why it had not healed in the time that we had been together here.

Emma just took her shirt from my gasp and pulled it down.

“Nothing,” she said, dismissively, turning her attention back to the task at hand.

Again, I asked myself if she was possibly serious. Apparently that was something I had to ask myself around her. Was it possible for shifters to have brain aneurysms? Because I was fairly certain she would end up causing one sooner or later.

“You’re bleeding through a bandage, Emma. That isn’t nothing,” I said, a little harsher than I intended to. I softened my tone and told her that I was sorry and asked again what happened.

Emma sighed and stood up. She turned to look at me with a blank expression on her face. It was clear that this was not the first time that she dealt with this situation, and that pissed me off. She did not piss me off, but the fact that this had happened before pissed me off. Was it this type of shit that caused her scars?

“I appreciate the concern. I really do. I can’t give you the answer that you want,” she said plainly.

I searched her face for anything, any emotion, any explanation. There was nothing. A completely blank mask was all I found.

‘Johnson, can you bring a first aid kit out to the clearing six miles out from sector 1? Please, keep this between us.’

Johnson was the only one I knew who would not blow this out of proportion or ask more questions about Emma. He had always been one to accept whatever information was provided to him and did not seek out more than we were willing to give. It made him the prime choice for this because I still was not sure what anyone else would do with her.

While part of me wanted to force her into our territory, I knew I could not just do it. That would be grounds for openly declaring war. Blacktree stood no chance of actually winning, but we did not know who, if anyone, were their allies. Plus, I would not force her to just up and leave her life over something like this.

‘Yeah. I’ll be there in five,’ he said.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, stepping closer. “Look, I’m not trying to pry. I’m simply concerned about the coolest new girl that I know,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

“I can handle myself, Ethan. We all have issues in life, right?” she asked softly.

“True,” I agreed.

We all did have issues and our own problems. I did appreciate that she was not lying to me or trying to cover it up. She honestly said that she could not give me the answer I wanted. That actually meant a lot to me. Emma was genuine, and I appreciated that.

Her head whipped to the side when Johnson came closer.

“Oh, so you can tell when wolves are approaching,” I teased.

She rolled her eyes at me but turned them back to Johnson’s wolf. She was not being defensive or anything, just curious.

“He’s with me,” I explained before walking up to him.

‘Everything alright here?’ he asked, looking at Emma closely. I could see the burning question in his eyes, but he would not ask.

‘Right as rain, thanks,’ I said before he nodded and trotted off.

I took the first aid kit that he brought and showed it to Emma. She did not look too pleased. So, that might have been an understatement. She looked pissed. Beyond pissed. Furious really.

“Emma, you’re bleeding through your bandage. If you don’t stop the bleeding, it could become dangerous. Trust me, I’m capable of bandaging you up. May I please do so?”

Emma looked at me carefully. No doubt she was weighing her options. I could tell that there was shit she did not want to divulge to me, and I was okay with that. Everyone had their own issues, as she said. However, she clearly needed help, and I figured she sensed that.

She nodded, giving up her fight. Hesitantly, she lifted the back of her shirt up and rolled the top of her pants down some.

I knelt behind her and opened up the kit. Carefully, I pulled the bandage off and saw a long cut. It was a clean slice into her. There was no way she did this herself. This also looked fresh.

“You don’t have to explain, but I need to know if this happened with silver,” I said softly.

Silver would affect how to treat it. Without silver, it would heal like normal. Silver delayed healing and could become deadly if it was trapped inside the wound once it closed over. It was one tactic that many packs used against their enemies. If silver was trapped inside, it would be a painful death of being slowly poisoned. It was barbaric.

She nodded her head instead of speaking.

I held in my anger at whomever did this and just set to taking care of it. First, I had to ensure there was no silver left in the wound, so I cleaned it out with alcohol and a neutralizer meant for silver injuries among our kind. Unfortunately, I did not have the spray, so I had to wipe out the inside of the wound with it.

The pieces started coming together as I took care of the wound. Never once did she wince or show an ounce of pain. I had gone through this a few times, and I knew for a fact that it made me growl. Yet, she did not exhibit any discomfort. It showed me that it was not the first time she had to do something like this. I had seen a shadow as her jaw ticked. Then she hung up earlier without an explanation or a proper goodbye. This must have happened then.

Why would someone go into her own home and harm her though? It was not like she was on a battlefield or anything. My gut was telling me now was not the time to ask questions, so I listened to it.

The cut was deep, so I applied some antibiotic cream and then a patented liquid adhesive meant for shifters to hold the sides together. It was formulated by Doc to replace stitches entirely for our patrol units. I doubted Emma would want to go for stitches if she was this hesitant to even let me help out.

I applied a fresh set of bandages and placed a special waterproof shield over it in case she needed to shower later. She would not be able to reach this wound on her own to truly bandage it properly. I would have to make sure to keep some supplies with me tomorrow when we met up in case she needed to change it.

I wanted to demand to know what happened, but I did not want her to run away from me and shut me out. No, this was a sensitive topic and must be treated as such. I swallowed down my anger and pulled her clothes back in place.

“There we go. It was fairly deep, so I sealed it with a liquid adhesive. It works better than stitches. It will hold until it heals,” I said, standing up and offering her a smile.

I wondered why she had not healed yet. Yeah, it was a deep wound, but it should have healed quickly with the help of her wolf. Even though it was done by something silver, it should have begun to heal at least.

“It’s complicated. Thank you for helping,” she said, as if reading my thoughts.

I nodded and picked up the phone from the ground. I turned the flashlight on and aimed it at the heap. She looked relieved that I was not pushing for answers.

She knelt back down. She grabbed the gloves from the ground and put them on.